“No Pain” [ft. Khalid, Charlie Wilson & Charlotte Day Wilson]

The L.A. production duo DJDS—aka Jerome LOL and Samo Sound Boy—started out as house and techno nostalgists, pumping out two albums worth of polished dance music. But in 2016, when Kanye West tapped them to work on The Life of Pablo, they began their rebrand as killer pop producers. On tracks like “Low Lights,” they confirmed that their skills lie in a big-tent sound and soulful, gospel-tinged instrumentals. Those are in play on their latest single, “No Pain,” a lonely heartbreaker that continues their recent streak not just as effective beatmakers but expert matchmakers. The track about acknowledging and then dealing with heartbreak squeezes three very different R&B vocalists—Khalid, Charlie Wilson, and Charlotte Day Wilson–into a comfy shared space.

A church organ and choir soar over triplet snares in “No Pain,” but despite the crowded roster and the producers’ knack for big-room flair, they escape gaudiness with lots of open space and anticipation. Each singer approaches the heartbreak from a different angle, complementing each other. The quiet melancholy of Khalid’s plaintive vocals sets the table for the rousing gospel outburst from Charlie Wilson: “I knocked on your door/Nothing but that lil’ dog barking,” he bellows. Meanwhile, Charlotte Day Wilson grounds the pain with hushlike murmurs from the sidelines, her singing the most raw of the bunch. It works so well because all three vocalists sound like they’re sharing the same dazed grief, punching away at it in their own styles. On paper, it’s hard to imagine these singers on the same song, but DJDS continue to make even the most unlikely of teams thrive.